Knowledge, too, moves around / Nolan: Players still decide game

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, December 5, 2006

In the here-today-gone-somewhere-else-tomorrow world of the NFL, it sometimes might seem that coaches know nearly as much about their opponents as they know about their own teams.

Sunday's 49ers game fits that scenario, with first-year Packers coach Mike McCarthy having gone to Green Bay after serving as Mike Nolan's offensive coordinator in San Francisco last year. Whether that really means much is another matter.

"Yes, we know each other," Nolan said Monday, saying that familiarity with another coach's strategies and thinking did carry a degree of importance. "But as it always does, it gets down to players on the field."

One such game has taken on near-legendary status in the league -- the grudge match that was Super Bowl XXXVII, when Jon Gruden led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 48-21 win over the Oakland Raiders, the team he had coached for four years.

Gruden went so far as to play quarterback for the Bucs' scout team at practice the week before the game, mimicking then-Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon to a T.

"That's all great," Nolan said. "He won. He gets to shoot his mouth and say all the great things he wants. But if he'd had lost, he'd have been quiet, saying 'I didn't tell them a darn thing.' "

49ers_548_mac.jpg 49ers head coach MIke Nolan walks the sidelines in the 4th quarter as Seattles wins 41-3. San Francisco Forty Niners vs. Seattle Seahawks Event in Seattle, Wa on 12/11/05. Photo by: Ran on: 12-12-2005
Coach Mike Nolan finally sounded a bit on the cynical side after Sunday's lopsided loss in Seattle, and who could blame him? Ran on: 12-12-2005
Coach Mike Nolan finally sounded a bit on the cynical side after Sunday's lopsided loss in Seattle, and who could blame him? Mandatory Credit for Photographer and San Francisco Chronicle/ - Magazine Out less

** FILE ** Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy walks the sideline as snow falls in the first quarter in this Nov. 27, 2006 file photo, in an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) less

** FILE ** Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy walks the sideline as snow falls in the first quarter in this Nov. 27, 2006 file photo, in an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field ... more

Photo: TED S. WARREN

Image 3 of 3

Knowledge, too, moves around / Nolan: Players still decide game

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

Backup 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer, who has been involved in a number of variations on that theme in his 13 years in the league, had a big smile at the mention of the oft-repeated tale. Dilfer said he learned first hand in visiting with former Tampa Bay safety John Lynch how much Gruden helped the team.

"In telling John and those guys what to look for," Dilfer said. "That's the most important thing in this game, knowing what to look for. And that's where Gruden was able to help."

More often, Dilfer said, new coaches actually might confuse their current players with information on their old team that no longer is relevant because of the constant shuffling of coaches, players and schemes.

"A very common thing in this league is people thinking they know but they really don't," he said.

Starting quarterback Alex Smith said the 49ers are using a different offense under coordinator Norv Turner, so McCarthy wouldn't have any inside knowledge of the current scheme.

Smith did say he expected the game to have an emotional element for him, seeing a familiar face on the other sideline -- the man who guided his transition from college to the pros.

"Mike was one of the first faces I got to know in the NFL world, from my workouts to my tryouts to draft day," he said. "I spent all last year with him going through that whole process. I got to know him really well."

And though Nolan tended to downplay such relationships, he acknowledged that he did turn to Turner in preparing for this year's game against Oakland, where Turner served as head coach in 2003 and '04.

"Yeah, he helped some," Nolan said. "But ultimately it came down to what the guys did on the field." And on the field at Candlestick on Oct. 8, Turner's new guys beat Turner's old guys 34-20.

The playing field will be more level Sunday, Nolan said.

"Mike won't be playing and neither will I, thank God," he said.

Briefly: Nolan said the 49ers came out of Sunday's 34-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints with two more players expected to join injured tight end Eric Johnson on the sideline for the Packers game: Offensive tackle Adam Snyder (sprained MCL and ankle) and linebacker Derek Smith ( hamstring) will be out. Johnson already is sidelined with a knee injury. Nolan said all three injuries could keep the players out beyond this week, but offered no further specifics. Cornerback Shawntae Spencer will be listed as questionable with a sprained ankle.